1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compressors having a hermetic design and being capable of generating high pressures. In particular, the present invention relates to high-pressure compressors that are suitable for use in a zero-gravity environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many types of compressors in use today, but few can be used in a zero-gravity environment. The closest known prior art are compressors commercially available from AMINCO of Silver Spring, Md. The AMINCO compressors use a diaphragm as the compressing element to produce a minimum of dead space inside the compressor. A plunger in the compression head reciprocates to compress hydraulic fluid which, in turn, pulses the diaphragm. The fluid to be compressed is taken in and discharged through check valves in the head plate on the down and up stroke of the diaphragm. The plunger is driven by a rotary electric motor coupled to a crank mechanism that produces linear motion. An interior chamber of the compressor body of the AMINCO model is filled with hydraulic fluid and air which is unsuitable for a zero gravity environment as the two phases do not orient properly. The AMINCO compressor also requires an excessive amount of maintenance due to the use of packing material in its design.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,856 to Preble et al. discloses a hermetically sealed hydraulic power supply having an oil reservoir with a pump for pumping oil from the reservoir that is driven by a gas turbine. This design features an oil reservoir containing the oil that is to be pumped. Further, the pump mechanism taught by Preble is a centrifugal pump rather than a positive displacement piston pump.